Combat drug resistance - no action today, no cure tomorrow
Published on: Apr 07, 2011Today the World Health Organization (WHO) has announced the launch of a six point policy package with the aim of setting a global direction for the management of the growing antibiotic resistance threat.
The initiative is a part of the campaign “Combat Drug Resistance – no action today, no cure tomorrow” which is the theme of this year’s edition of World Health Day.
With the emergence and alarming spread of carbapenemase-producing bacteria tomorrow may already be here. Carbapenemases break down our last-line antibiotics, the carbapenems, making infections extremely difficult to treat and are associated with high mortality rates.
As new resistance mechanisms arise, such as carbapenemases, proper detection by conventional phenotypic methods is becoming increasingly more challenging. By evading detection, resistant bacteria cannot be stopped from spreading.
With the Check-MDR CT102 we at Check-Points have designed a product that detects the clinically prevalent carbapenemases KPC, OXA-48, VIM, IMP and NDM-1 based on our proprietary molecular diagnostics platform. By accurately identifying the specific resistance genes present, the Check-MDR CT102 enables you to take the first step towards control.
The control of carbapenemase-producing bacteria cannot wait. For as the WHO campaign states: no action today, no cure tomorrow.
Read more about the Check-MDR CT102 here.
Further reading - carbapenem resistance
Antimicrobial resistance 2010: global attention on carbapenemase-producing bacteria.
ECDC Antimicrobial Resistance and Healthcare-Associated Infections Programme. Euro Surveill. 2010 Nov 18;15(46). pii: 19719. [link]
Has the era of untreatable infections arrived?
Livermore DM. J Antimicrob Chemother. 2009 Sep;64 Suppl 1:i29-36. [link]
Extended-spectrum-beta-lactamase, AmpC and Carbapenemase issues.
Thomson KS. J Clin Microbiol. 2010 Apr;48(4):1019-25. [link]
